World Obesity Day: Why added sugar is still public enemy number one

Pills and prescriptions are not the answer to our obesity epidemic. (Image: iStock)

The cheapest - and easiest - fix is to cut our added sugar intake in half.

It's the saddest day of the year. Not just because obesity is so rampant in our society – but because many of us, no matter our weight, feel powerless to defeat it.

Two in three Australians are now overweight or obese, and one person is being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes as a result of their lifestyle every five minutes.

There are now more obese people than underweight people worldwide. Humanity, on average, is six times fatter than it was 40 years ago.

With a challenge like that ahead of us, it can seem pretty daunting to come up with an innovative way to slim our waistlines. But according to Professor Peter Brukner OAM, doctor for the Australian cricket team, there is a simple solution to lessen the impact: cut your added sugars in half.

"Australians are currently confused about what they should and shouldn’t be eating," says Brukner.

"We’re consistently bombarded with a range of different diets and I realised the one thing that all of these diets have in common is added sugar."

"It’s the one thing we all need to reduce in our diet to address the epidemic rates of ill health we’re experiencing in Australia."

To combat this, Brukner joined forces with health experts, doctors, scientists and even celebrities to create SugarByHalf, a campaign that encourages Australians to calculate the amount of added sugar they consume, and then cut that in half.

By doing this, Brukner hopes to make a dent in the ill-health of the nation, who he says is suffering at the hands of food companies who fill their products with added sugars – many of which are still marketed as being "health" foods.

"Our health system is set to be bankrupted by the escalating rates of obesity, type 2 diabetes, chronic illness and tooth decay – and all of these diseases have been scientifically linked to consuming too much added sugar over time," says Brukner.

Whether it's the glass of juice we have with breakfast, or the muesli bar we grab on the way out the door to catch the bus, most of us are unknowingly consuming far more added sugars than we realise.

Many people, including the creator of That Sugar Film and television actor Damon Gameau, believe that we are in the middle of a "sugardemic".

"We have to face the fact that there's just so much added sugar in our diets and in the products on our supermarket shelves. It's something like 80 percent of processed foods that have some kind of added sugar," Gameau told Coach.

"This SugarByHalf campaign isn't about Kit-Kats and cans of Coke – we know they have lots of sugar – it's about arming people with the knowledge of how much sugar they unknowingly consume over the day, and then cutting that in half."

For the last couple of years we've been overloaded with the idea that sugar is pure evil. Constantly associated with words like "poison", "toxic" and "unnatural", nobody in the fitness industry has been very keen to even sniff a granule of the sweet stuff.

But according to Gameau, there's a very important distinction to make about sugar and added sugars – because the effects they have on our health can be far different.

"There's a big confusion out there about added sugars and the sugar present in fruit and vegetables," says Gameau.

"Yes, there is sugar in fruits and vegetables – but it comes with all sorts of nutrients and fibre that the research shows helps it to be absorbed far more gently by our bodies."

What we have to worry about, says Gameau, is the "added sugars" that come as a result of excessive processing, which are there purely to boost product sales.

"The real issue is with added sugars – that's the sugar that's introduced into foods by companies to improve taste. The research has shown that added sugar effects your appetite control systems – it allows you to eat more and more," explains Gameau.

"That's what's caused these [obesity] problems – some foods like low-fat yoghurts that people assume are great for you can actually have as much added sugar as things like a Kit-Kat."

Because many "diet" or "health" labelled foods actually contain a fair amount of sugar, working out what is and isn’t good for your waistline can cause some head spins when you're pacing the aisles at your local Woolies.

To combat this, Gameau recommends taking a deep breath, and focusing on the foods that are on the outside perimeter of the supermarket – this way you're much more likely to buy wholefoods that aren’t in packages, and consequently have almost no added sugars.

Failing that, it's time to hone your skills as a nutrition label detective.

"The best way to cut down on your intake of added sugars is to simply look at the nutrition panel on the back of what you want to buy," recommends Gameau.

"Look at the amount of sugars it has (this is total sugars, not just added sugar), but then look at the ingredients list to see if sugar is high on the list.

"It's also handy to remember that four grams of sugar works out to be one teaspoon, to give people a better idea of the sheer amount."

You see it time and time again in the health industry – if one type of food can have bad effects, then surely it's better to cut that entire food out than risk the consequences. From gluten to carbohydrates to red meat, all of us are susceptible to getting caught up in the "ban everything!" mindset.

As Gameau explains, when people hear that excess sugar is bad for you, they tend to go to the full extreme and cut every last bit out, even if it's in "real" food like fruit or vegetables.

"It's important to remember that a little bit of added sugar in your diet is fine – go for it – but in the broad scope of things, most of us are simply consuming way too much," says Gameau.

"I do think we can have a danger of demonising sugar altogether."

The key here is to strike a balance between telling people to reduce their sky-high intake levels of added sugar, without scaring them so much that they develop anxiety and a potential eating disorder.

"The whole SugarByHalf campaign is about reducing, not removing," explains Gameau.

"It's a tricky subject to talk about because some teenagers out there are getting four times as much added sugar as the recommendations, but you can't just go ahead and use extreme language that causes people to fear all forms of sugar, in all foods."

Because added sugars are so prevalent in our lives, the idea of cutting the sweet stuff in our lives in half can seem pretty daunting. But Gameau insists that the best way to do it is to start with small changes that have (almost) no effect on your day-to-day life.

"If somebody decides to have one teaspoon of sugar in their tea instead of two, and find out that perhaps they never needed it in the first place, I would call that a win for the campaign," says Gameau.

"It's all about people actually knowing the amount of added sugars they consume, and then aiming to reduce that by half.

"We've found a lot of people actually don't know the amount of added sugar they're eating every day, so if the only thing achieved is knowledge of that, it's a good thing."

1. Read your labels: Knowing that four grams of sugar equals one teaspoon is a powerful way of visualising the amount of sugar in a product.

2. Eat whole foods when you can: As much as you can, eat "real food" that has minimal amounts of processing. Whatever you do, do not worry about the sugar in in real food like fruits and vegetables at all.

3. Shop from the perimeter of the supermarket: Almost all supermarkets are set up the same way – fruits and vegetables at the entrance, then shelved aisles in the middle, then dairy and frozen goods at the other end. Sticking to the outside edge is statistically more likely to give you whole foods.

4. Make processed food an occasional occurrence: It's possible to eat a small amount of processed sugar and still be healthy. Allowing yourself to eat some junk food makes for a more sustainable eating pattern (and life!).

5. Watch the added sugars in the drinks you consume: Sports drinks, soft drinks and juices are all high-risk ways to consume added sugars. If you want, try watering them down a little if you're desperate for a juice in the morning.